Wall board



June 9, 1925. 1,541,332

W. B. DOE

WALL BOARD Filed April 6' 1923 /NvE/vm@ M//LL/AM B. D05

@WM WCQM@ Afro/WYE Ys /Fatented June 9, i925.

UNETED STATES isnaz ratsam carica.

WILLIAM B. DUE, 0F SKYLAND, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 EDWIN W. GROVE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WALL BOARD.

Application tiled April 6, 1923. Serial No. 630,368.

To all lwhom it muy concern Be it known that Lil-VILLIAM B. Don, a citizen of the United States of Amc-rica, a resident of Skyland, in the county of Buncombe. State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvemen-ts in Wall Boards, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wall boards, one of the objects being to provide a simple, effective and inexpensive means for securing and supporting a coat of plaster.

lrior to this invention, the ordinary method of plastering walls has consisted in first applying a thick rough coat of plaster to laths, a large percentage of Ithis plaster being forced between the laths and permitted to drop on the inner faces thereof, so as to anchor the body of plaster on the Wall. After `this has been done, the surface of the first coat is usually scratched by means of suitable tools to form a rough surface on which the finishing coat of plaster is applied.

One of the objects of my invention is to dispense with the laths as well as the thick coat of plaster 'which is ordinarily applied to the laths, thereby eliminating a number of expensive elements including` the initial cost of the laths, the labor of securing numerous small laths 'to the Wall frame, and the labor and expense of the rough coat of plaster which is usually carefully applied to the laths and then scratched to form the rough surface. AAs a substitute for these various items, I have produced relatively large Wall boards that can be easily and quickly secured to the wall frame, and each of these boards has a novel plaster-receiving face adapted to receive and securely hold the single coat of plaster which is ordinarily applied as a. finishing coat over the rough surface of an initialvcoat.

To set forth one form of the invention, I have shown and will hereafter describe a wall board consisting of a, mass of strong, coarse and irregular fibers surrounded by a body of pithy substance. The plaster-receiving face of this board is rovided with numerous ribs and grooves ormed in the mass of fibers and pithy substance and adapted to receive and hold the plaster. The coarse fibers are preferably severed and displaced at the grooves, so as to withdraw ends of the fibers from the pit-hy substance, thereby forming numerous irregular anchoring elements which securely hold the single coat of plaster.

yI have found that the boards consisting of a mass of large fibers enclosed by a b ody of pithy substance can be conveniently obtained at a low cost by cutting palmetto trees, or palm trees, into slabs of suitable dimensions. The logs of this unique Wood consist of a pithy substance enclosing large, strong fibers, and for this reason have only a relatively small commercial value, but when formed into wall boards according to t-he present invention, the products can be most advantageously used to obtain the results herein pointed out.

Fig. I is a longitudinal section of a. machine adapted for use in making the wall boards.

Fig. II is a transverse section of the machine.

Fig. III is a perspective view'of a wall board embodying the features of this invention.

Fig. IV is an enlarged section showing'a portion of the Wall board and one of vthe grooves therein.

To illustrate one form of the invention, I have shown a Wall board A having a plasterreceiving 'face provided with alternating ribs and grooves l and 2, respectively, formed longitudinally of the board. These ribs and grooves are preferably formed in straight parallel lines extending throughout the length of the board.

The board preferably consists of a mass of coarse, irregular fibers 3 surrounded by a body7 of pithy 'substance 4, as shown most clearly by Fig. IV. The fibers have end portions 'which extend from the pithy substance at the ribs and grooves, and more particularly at the walls of the grooves, as suggested by Fig. IV. The ribs 1, grooves 2 and the extended ends ofthe large fibers 3 cooperate with each other to securely anchor the plaster on the Wall board.

The method of making the board prefeiably includes thestep of cutting and pulling portions of the fibers, so as to withdraw end portions of the fibers fromv the pithy substance, thereby Vforming numerous small irregular anchoring stems for lthe plaster, and 'this step of the method can be conveniently performed while the grooves 2 are being formed in the mass of fibers and pith.

As an illustration of a suitable machine orcarrying out this method, I have shown a table 5 equipped with upper feed rolls 6, lower feed rollis 7, a pressure roll S be.- tween the upper feed rolls, and a gang of circular saws 9 below the pressure roll 8. The rolls 6 and are mounted in bearings 10 (Fig. LII) adapted to slide vertically in frames 11. Springs 12 are seatedf'upon the bearings to force the rolls 6 and 8 onto the board A, at the same time forcing said board onto the lower rolls 7, while the pressure roll 8 retains the boardin proper en'- gagement with the gang of saws.

The springs Y12 may be adjusted by means of screws 13 engaging spring seats 14 at the upper ends of the springs. Y.

The saws 9 are secured to a shaft 15 which may be rotated by any suitable mechanism, Yand the upper edges of the saws project slightly' above the top face of table 5, so as to form the grooves in the board A, the latter being fed by the rolls 6, 7 and 8 which are rotated in the directions indicated by arrows in Fig. I. n

The board passing through the machine is acted upon by the saws which form the grooves 2, at the same time cutting and displacing the fibers at the grooves in such a manner that the fibers are severed and the resultant end portions withdrawn fromV the pithy substance to form numerous anchoring elements, as suggested by'Fig. IV.

tions being extended from lsaid body of pithy substance.

o. A wall board comprising a body of vpithy substance and coarse fibers surrounded thereby, said bo-ard having a plaster-receiving face provided with grooves to receivev portions of the plaster, and said coarse fibers being provided with end portions projecting from the pithy subst-ance at said grooves to anchor the plaster.

4. A wail board comprising a body of pithy substance having a plaster-receiving faceV and numerous coarse irregular fibers surrounded by said body of pithy substance, said plaster-receiving face being provided with alternating ribs and grooves formed in the mass of fibers and pithy substance, and said fibers being provided with end portions extending from the pithyY substance at said ribs and grooves to serve as anchors for the plaster.

In testimony'that I claim the foregoing I hereunto affix my signature.V

WILLIAM B'. DOE. 

